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Animal Inventions
Category:Developed for second grade Student worthiness Tried and trusted! Primary biological content area covered Students will: * Name the characteristics of animal groups. *Classify the major animal groups. (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects) *Identify the elements of specific habitats that each animal needs in order to survive. *Wonder, plan, investigate, reflect, share, and act through the scientific method. Materials Live Animals: *Bess Bugs *Catfish *Mud Puppies *Crayfish *Humans Non-living Animals: *Bird Skeleton *Preserved Turtle *Human Skeleton (if available) Other Materials: *Observation Sheet *Classification Worksheet *Large Post-it Note Paper *Markers *Glue (Hot Glue Gun would be ideal) *Variety of common, art, and household materials including: **Cotton Balls **Cardboard coffee cups **Pipe cleaners **Feathers **Plastic straws **Clothespins **Colored paper **Egg cartons **Foam pieces *Individual tanks for some animals *Small pieces of cardboard Handouts Description of activity Students will be classifying animals that are within the six major animal kingdoms, while also describing the characteristics of each group. They will then create an animal of their own from one of the animal groups. They will do this based on three characteristics that they observed from an animal in that specific group. Lesson plan #Students will begin by observing a variety of living and non-living animals. They will record characteristics of the animals and their habitats on their observations sheets. #Students will convene as a group and discuss what they observed for each animal. #With these observations, students will identify the characteristics that belong to each animal group. They will be written on the Post-it Note paper by the teacher under the appropriate heading. #Once these characteristics have been sorted out, students will classify each animal they observed into their specific phylum. #Using these observations, students will discuss how these characteristics fit into their specific habitats. #Students will use this information to choose one of the six animal groups for their project. #They will then choose three characteristics of their chosen group that they want to portray in their animal creations. #Using a variety of creative materials (listed above), students will create a 3D animal focusing on the three characteristics that they have chosen. #Once students have completed their animal creation, they will share with the group what their animal is, what phylum it belongs to, what characteristics they chose to portray, which habitat their animal would best survive in (based on the chosen characteristics) and why. #If time allows, students will complete the animal classification worksheet as a group. Potential pitfalls *Some students may be afraid of coming into contact with the animals. Be prepared to talk with students about handling them in an appropriate and gentle manner. *Time may be an issue, manage time wisely or if possible, allow for a longer period of time to complete the experiment. *Elmers or any other wet glue may not be ideal for building 3D models. Hot glue guns will work best and therefore each student needs their own adult supervisor to help them glue his or her pieces together. *Once the animal observation section ends, move the animals out of the line of sight of students, especially while giving directions. This will avoid distractions because some students may be extremely fascinated by the animals. Bring the animals back to a visible area at the end so that students who are interested can continue to observe. Math connections During the observations students will be using several math skills including counting, and noticing symmetry within the animals. We will also make a bar graph to show which animal group the class is most interested in. This will be completed by the teacher in front of each group and sent back to the classroom for them to discuss. Literature connections Eyewitness Books: Reptile by Colin McCarthy Connections to educational standards Grade Expectations: There are no S1-2:30 at the 1-2 grade level, but a review of the SPK-K:30 standards can be reviewed. SPK-K:30 Students demonstrate their understanding of Structure and Function-Survival Requirements by: Observing and recording the parts that make up living things Science Concept: a. Living things (plant and animals) are made of parts that enable them to survive. S1-2:4 Conducting Experiments Students demonstrate their ability to CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS by: Describing observations using senses rather than feeling and Recording observations of similarities and differences Next steps In warm weather, students can take field trips outside to notice more animals than the ones presented during the experiment. They can classify those animals and discuss the habitats they found them in. Citations and links Vermont Grade Expectations. http://education.vermont.gov/new/html/pgm_curriculum/science/gle.html